Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to plumbing valves, and in particular to adjustable mounting systems for use therewith.
Tub/shower faucets are typically mounted through a wall surrounding the tub or the shower stall. They are anchored against rear studs and/or to the wall board, and linked to the water supply from behind the wall, and they have a valve stem that projects forward adjacent a wall opening to provide control over the valve from the room side of the wall.
Most of these valves are mixer valves which accept both hot and cold water, control the proportioning and volume of water there through, and deliver a mixed outlet stream to a tub filler, shower head and/or the like when the valve is activated. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,799. Other such valves merely control the volume of a single supply of cold or hot water.
Such valves are typically designed so that a valve stem protrudes into the room through a hole in the room wall, with a surrounding decorative escutcheon that effectively hides the wall hole. The escutcheon also prevents leakage through the wall hole and restricts heat/cold transfer between opposite sides of the wall.
Since the thickness of the wall will vary depending on the construction material selected by the builder or customer, the plumbing installer often first makes a rough-in installation, and then corrects for the final materials. The final adjustment is often achieved by providing threads on the valve housing which the escutcheon can tighten down on, thus providing some range of adjustment. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,149.
However, where the wall is particularly thin or unusually thick the amount of adjustment allowed by such threads may be insufficient, thereby requiring the plumber to reposition the valve at a time when access to the valve is restricted. This can be time consuming and may damage construction that has already occurred.
Various mounting assemblies have been developed to try to address this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,389 discloses a valve assembly with a valve extension that can be threaded to vary the position of the escutcheon. This assembly has the disadvantage of requiring many components and separate fasteners.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,009 discloses an assembly which is suitable to receive a variety of adapters. The length of the assembly can be varied by eliminating or adding extension pieces. This system requires multiple parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,529 provides a less complex assembly in which a plastic insert with internal splines is adjustably mounted along the length of the stem by a set screw. However, use of a set screw in this context can be awkward.
Thus, a need still exists for an improved adjustable valve assembly which can be mounted through room walls of widely varying thickness.
The invention provides a valve assembly with a three-position adapter for adjustably mounting a valve handle to a valve stem. In one aspect the invention provides a valve assembly having a rotatable valve stem for controlling fluid flow through the valve assembly, a stem adapter having first and second ends with openings suitable to alternately receive pre-defined different first and second lengths of the valve stem, and a handle linked to the valve stem via the stem adapter. By flip-flopping the adapter one can switch from a setting for a thin wall to a setting for a wall of intermediate thickness.
In preferred forms the stem adapter has an internal stop element located closer to the first end than to the second end, the stem is splined, and the stem adapter openings engage the stem splines to restrict relative rotation there between. The stem adapter openings can be part of a single axial opening through the stem adapter, and the stem adapter can be suitable to receive a third length of the valve stem which is different than the first and second lengths when the stop element has flexed in a radially outward direction.
In another aspect the stem adapter can have planar outer surfaces that slope radially inwardly towards the first and second ends from an intermediate location there between, and the outer surfaces can join at slotted corners. There can also be a stem driver mounted to the handle and defining a socket engaging outer surfaces of the stem adapter.
In yet another preferred form there can be a retainer mounted to the valve having a threaded end. A bonnet is mounted to the threaded end of the retainer to conceal the stem driver and the stem adapter such that the bonnet is rotatable with respect to the handle.
In another aspect the invention provides valve assembly where there is a rotatable valve stem for controlling fluid flow through the valve assembly. A stem adapter has an opening extending through opposite first and second ends and has a radial stop member positioned closer to the first end than the second end such that the opening alternatively is suitable to receive a first distance of the valve stem from the first end and a second distance of the valve stem (different from the first distance) from the second end. The opening can also receive a third distance of the valve stem when the radial stop has flexed radially outwardly. A handle is linked to the valve stem via the stem adapter.
Thus, an installer can adjust the assembly from the room side of the wall for a thin wall by having the valve stem be inserted into the end of the adapter which is closest to the stop. Alternatively, the adapter can be flipped to provide the ability for the valve stem to be inserted into an end of the adapter which is the farthest from the stop (resulting in an assembly suitable for a thicker wall). For extremely thin walls the adapter can be pushed hard onto the stem so as to cause the stop flex outwardly. This allows more of the valve stem to enter the adapter.
This assembly is comprised of few parts, is inexpensive to manufacture, and is easy to assembly without complex tools. Further, unlike set screws, the parts of the present invention are not so small that they are easily dropped or lost.
These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings.